Steering-wheel lock



Aug. 4, 192s.

STEERING WHEEL LOCK j Filed April 19, 1924- VN/V I Il IN VEN TOR.

ATTORNEYS.

Patented Aug. 4, 1925.

` UNIT-Eo STATES PATENT oFFicE.

LOUIS SCHWITZER, OF INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA, ASSIGNOR TO AUTOMOTIVE PARTS CO., OF INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA, A CORPORATION.

STEERING-WHEEL LOCK.

VApplication yfiled April 19, 1924. v Serial No. 707,607.

To all whom t may concern.'`

Be it known that I, Louis Soiiwrrznn, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Indianapolis, county of Marion, and State of Indiana, haveinyented a certain new and useful ySteerii'ng;7h/eel Lock; and Ido hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and eXact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in

which like numerals'refer to like parts.

"This inventionv pertains to a steering wheel lock of that type which, whenlocked in` one 'position, will "be operative for steering purposes, and' when locked in another position, will be disconnected from the steering 'gear'so as to be'freely rotatable, thereby preventing the control of the vehicle to be had. lhile the :construction herein shown is applicable to ready installation on the steering post of Ford auto-mobiles, the structure may be altered without Vdeparting fromV the invention so aslto make it applicable to other types of steering posts or mechanisms.

Whereas steering wheel locks which function upon the same principle have been used for several jyears, it is the purpose and object of this invention to provide a structure of this character which willbe fool and theft proof to alniaXinium degree, while at the Sametime 'of simple, sturdy and economical structure,a'1i`d readily adapted vfor installation without altering the -original parts of the steeringpost. A y e l One ofthe important features of the invention 'resides in the spring means for normally retaining the 'wheel inV inoperative position. 'Byr'eason of 'said'vspringgv itis necessary that; the wheelbe'loked iirmly in operative position vor in inoperative position. It permits no partial locking which may result in causing a seriousaccident. Another important feature resides inthe width ofthe locking tongue which gives added strength tothe device in an important place. The full nature ofthe invention will be understood from the accompanying` drawand the following description and claims: i A Inthe drawings, Figure l is a central vertical section through the upper portion .of the steering 'post with a locking wheel mounted thereonin operativeposition. Fig. Q is the same as the right-hand part of Fig. 1, showing the lockremoved for` permitting the wheel to be moved to operative or inoperative position. Fig. B is the same as Fig. 1,` showing the wheel locked in inoperative position. Fig. 4 is a section taken lon the line 4 4 of FigrQ.

In the drawings there is shown a steering post 10 provided with ahead 11 on which are' rotatably mounted, by means of the short pinion shafts 12, the pinions 13. There are three of said p'inions mounted upon ythe head 11, allof which are in position to mesh and vengage with the internal gear case 14 provided with internal gear teeth 15 about the inner periphery thereof forproviding a'nplanetary gear system.

" flhe'steering` wheels'piders 16 are keyed to the upwardly extending4 spindle 17 which is adapted toy rest on the head 1,1 and lis provided onth'e loi'ver'endthereo-f with a central drive pinion 18, the shaft19 extending downwardly into 'a suitablebushing in the post v1() and upwardly into a central bore through the' pinion 18' for centering the same and maintaining it in proper relation with the pinions 18. 'Ihe spider 16 of the steering wheel is further held in locked position upon the spindle 17 by the lock nut 20.

The structure abovefdescribed is the same or substantially the same as that employed in theisteering mechanism ofthe Ford automobile for transmitting rotary movement from the wheel through the planetary gearing to the steering post 10.v `In installing thelockwheel forming this invention, the original nut 20, spider 16, spindle 17, pinion 18 and shaft 19 are removed and replaced by those illustrated herein. l l The spidervlG is mounted cna reduced portion of the Vspindle '17. which is formed integral with an enlarged body portion 21, said body p ortionbeing provided with an upper peripheral groove '22 and a lower peripheral groove 23. That portion Q4 of the body portion 21 extending between said grooves is of a slightly larger diameter than the upper portion of the body. The body 21, and the pinion 18, integral with and forming a part thereof, contains a central vertical bore 2,5 in whichl the short shaft or bearing pin 19 extends from the post 10. Said bearing pin'is 'provided at its upper end with' a reduced portion 26l so yas to leave a shoulder upon which .the spiral spring 27 is seated, said spring being compressed beenA tween the upper end of the pin and the top of the bore so as to normally maintain the Wheel in raised position. Surrounding the body portion 21 of the spindle 17 there is a housing 2S, provided with an annular and downwardly extending internal threaded flange adapted to screw upon the gear case 1-1. Said housing is provided with an upwardly extending portion adapted to completely embrace the body portion 2l and permit said body portion to slide vertically therein, but Vby means of the shoulder 29 engaging the portion 24,' preventing its `removal. Said housingis providedwitli a laterally extending lock barrel portion 430 through which the pin 3l extends into a bore cut jointly into the fiange of the housing and the adjacent portion of the casing for permanently pinning and locking these two members together against their being unscrewed. A,

Mounted in the barrel there is a lock member 32 slidable therein, lbut limited in its movement by means of a screw33 engaging in a longitudinal slot 34. Tlielock member is provided with a tongue 35 so formed as to be capable of extending into either of the annular recesses 22 or 23. On the lower side of thelock member' there is a bolt 36- adaptedto extend in a complementary recess formed in the housing 28 so i as to prevent the sliding movement ofthe lock member when the bolt is extended, land permitting its sliding movement when withdrawn. A key 37, operating in the lock, is adapted to cause the bolt 36 to be withdrawn or extended into the locking'position.

In installing the lock wheel, the original housing and the wheel with its .associated pinion and spindle are removed, the pin 19 then being dropped into the post and the housing 28 with the wheel, spindle 17 and body portion 21 provided with the spring 27 in the bore thereof, are mounted in position upon the port 10 so that the housing may be screwed onto the casing 14. The pin 3l is then driven into place after the housing and Casing have been bored 'to receive the same, after which the` lock member 32 is installed in the barrel and the screw 33 is screwed therein. Y f

In operation, when itis desired to lock the vehicle against theft, the key is turned'so as to withdraw the Vbolt 36 and pull the locking member outwardly to the position shown in Fig. 2. VThismovement of the locking member removes the tongue 35 from engagement in tlieslot 22 so that the spring 27 may function to elevate the post until ilie,portion 24' engages the shoulder 29, as

shown in F ig. 3. This will cause the pinions 29to disengage thepinions 13 so that the wheel and lpost l() will be operably disconnected. The lock 32 is then pushed back so that the tongue 35 'engages the lower groove 23, after which the key is turned to cause the bolt 3G to move into locking position, and the key is removed from the locking member. It will be obvious, therefore, that without thekey, there will be no way in which to cause the wheel to become operably engaged with the steering post. When it is desired to bring the wheel into operative position, the key is inserted so that the lock member may be withdrawn the wheel forced down against the tension of the spring 27 into operative position, upon which the' lock member is moved back so that the tongue engages the upper slot 22 and maintains the same in this position. i

The invention claimed is: 1

1. The combination with a steering post, of a steering wheel spindle, said spindle being provided with an annular groove about the periphery thereof, means for pivotally mounting said spindle on said post, a pinion on said spindle for `operatively connecting the same with said post when moved to operative position, and disconnecting the same when moved to inoperative position, a compression spring for normally maintaining said spindle in inoperative position, a

housing surrounding said spindle, means on said housing for engaging an enlarged portion ot said spindle and limiting the movement thereof, a casing surrounding the upper i portion of said post, means for securingsaid housingand said casing together, a locking member mounted in said housing when in one position adapted to engage said groove for maintaining said spindle in operative `position against the tension of said spring, and when in the other position to disengage the saineso as to permit said spring to move the spindle to inoperative position, and means associated with said locking member for locking the same in groove engaging posi- Ition. t t

2. The combination with a steering post, of agsteeriiig wheel spindle, said spindle being provided with annular grooves about the periphery thereof and a centralbore formed therein, a pin for pivotally mounting `said spindle on said post, meanson said spindle forV operatively connecting the same with said post when movedto operative position and disconnecting the same when moved to inoperative position, a compression spring positioned in said bore between said pin and spindle for normally maintaining said spindle in inoperative position, a housingsurrounding said spindle and having a reduced portion with a shoulder near oneend thereof for engaging an enlarged portion of said spindle and limiting the movement thereof, a casing surrounding-the upper portion of said post, means for locking said housing and casing, a locking member slidably mounted in said housing inposition to en-` gage one of said grooves whenin one position for maintaining said spindle in operative position against the tension of said spring and when in the other position to disengage the same so as to permit said spring to move the spindle to inoperative position, whereupon said member may engage the other groove for locking the spindie against return movement, and means associated with said looking member for 1ook' ing the same in groove-engaging position.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto alixed my signature.

LOUIS SCHWITZER. 

